Monthly Archives: August 2015

It really does not seem like a year. In many ways it seem like a lot less – the fact that we have been able to FaceTime /Skype family and keep in touch with friends via social media means that distant as we are geographically we have felt close. The world has truly got smaller in the last few years.

In other ways it seems like we have been in Tanzania for ever. Life is so different here. It’s not just the weather – an eternal summer – whether dry (as it is most of the time) or wet (as it is occasionally). Generally a more relaxed lifestyle a more outdoor life and a more sociable life. Eating out is cheap and much more part of life here. Wages are low but housing comes with the job so money goes farther. It has enabled us to travel: Serengeti, Zanzibar, Rubondo, Uganda earlier in the year and our recent journey south through Tanzania,Malawi, Zambia and Botswana have given us great adventures and amazing experiences.

Zanzibar-Dolphin

River Nile

Monkey Bay

Zomba

Kipepeo Beach

Rubondo Hippo

Rubondo Croc

Jinja White Water Rafting

Lion Pride

Zanzibar Beach

Victoria Falls

Chilimba Village

Victoria Falls

Aldabran Giant Tortoise

Impromptu Umbrella Moshi

Prison Island – Zanzibar

Likoma Island

Zebra

Murchison Falls Uganda

Sunset over Lake Nyassa/Malawi

Zanzibar Coral Island

Chobe Bee-Eater

Zip Wire at Victoria Falls

Chobe Giraffe

Sunrise over Zanzibar

Kipepeo Beach

Cheetah – Lick

Chobe Elephant

Chobe Elephant

Leopard

Crater View

Chilimba Children

Zazibar Paddle

Shoebill

Turaco

Milky Way

Rainbow

TAZARA Train through the Mountains

Zomba Plateau

Matt on River Nile

Sunrise at Monkey Bay

Crowned Hornbill

Fighting Wildebeest

In fact you don’t have to travel far to get amazing views in Mwanza – Wag Hill, Malaika and Tunza are but a few miles from here.

Malachite Kingfisher

Wag Hill Sunset

Malaika Sunset with Dow

Wag Hill Sunset

Cuppa at St Dominic Annex Beach

Wag Hill

Gennet

Malakai Beach Resort

Wag Hill overlooking Lake Victoria

Infinity Pool

Waves at Sunset

Sunset from Kirumba

St Dominic Annex Beach

Tunza Sunset

Malaika

Rock Hyrax

Wag Hill Dawn

Us at Dancing Rocks

Sunset at Tunza

Wag Hill Pool

Teaching here has had it’s share of frustrations (what job doesn’t) but I don’t regret a moment. The work-life balance is so much better than the UK, the students polite, respectful and hardworking in the main and I work with a great bunch of colleagues.

As we reach this milestone – it is a time of transition here – new colleagues are arriving this weekend – just as we did a year ago. Many old colleagues return this week, but others have left for other jobs across the globe, so school will change. I wonder what colleagues were thinking a year ago as we and a bunch of others arrived!

No one can predict the future and certainly the sliding Shilling and upcoming elections cause concern in some of the local ex-pat community. For us the lack of a job for Anita, following a chance to do some maternity cover this past six months, makes it difficult to imagine as much travel in the year ahead. We will just have to see.

Looking back it’s been a great year and I am confident whatever happens year 2 will be just as amazing – even if it’s different.

Like this:

One of the great things about living in Mwanza is that you’re never too far from the Lake and the spectacular views you get.

If you follow me on FB apologies but this blog also posts there too – repeat pics I’m afraid.

Even on a day like today where in truth it has been quite mundane and in a week when we’ve all been getting over coughs and colds we were still able to get out this evening to Malaika Beach Resort for a sundowner (a beer watching the sunset).

Although it’s 4000TzS entry you immediately get it back in the cost of a drink or a contribution towards it. The beach front gives a great view of the sun and tonight’s was awesome.

The sky was cloudless so the golden sun appeared to sink straight into the lake. As we watched a dow cut right across the setting orb and then the thin crescent moon appeared above the rainbow sky.

Since our return to Mwanza there seem to be a lot more Butterflies around of various types flitting about amongst the rejuvenated Bougainvillea plants. These thorny bushes not only deter unwelcome visitors but they look attractive with their brightly coloured leaves surrounding the true flowers of this vine.

Like this:

Today is World Elephant Day. So in honour I have decided to post pictures of these fabulous beasts from our recent safari in Chobe National Park in Botswana. Elephants are plentiful here and we were able to get a close up view of the herds.

Like this:

Day by day we produce a lot of waste – sadly there is no recycling here other than for glass bottles which are taken back to the shop/ bar for a returned deposit.

Plastics, metals and paper packaging are just thrown away. It doesn’t matter how much we might look after our rubbish – in the end it’s going to be dumped by someone or burned. Quite hard when we came from one of the recycling pioneers, Milton Keynes.

One way we do recycle our waste is in the Pit. We had one dig out by the Askaris just after we arrived and it takes all our organic refuse.

We have just filled our old pit and so today we have had another one dug. Over the year all the vegetable matter, bones, egg shells, tea bags etc will go in. We have just covered over our old pit with some soil so over the next few months it should all mulch down to a compost.

The soil here is quite poor in terms of nutrients so hopefully this will help in time to come.

The new pit, like the old will attract the animals, the compound dogs, our cat, mongooses and various birds will go in there from time to time.